Abstract: The conceptual design and dimensional synthesis of a novel 5-DOF reconfigurable hybrid robot module are presented. The module is composed of a 2-DOF parallel spherical mechanism which is serially connected with a 3-DOF open loop kinematic chain by a prismatic joint. The merit of this design is that a relatively large workspace/limb-stroke ratio can be achieved due to the decomposition of the fixed point rotation and the relative translation. The proposed 5-DOF hybrid robot can be employed as a plug-and-play module to configure different machines for the circumstances where high-speed yet light payload is required. The singularity and isotropy of the 2-DOF spherical parallel mechanism are analyzed based on the velocity mapping function. The dimensional synthesis of the 2-DOF spherical parallel mechanism is carried out with a goal to maximize the mean value of the minimum singular value of the Jacobian matrix in the workspace subject to a set of appropriate mechanical constraints. The results of the optimal kinematic design are given via examples.

Key words: Conceptual design, Dimensional synthesis, Parallel robot, Reconfigurability, Grinding, Material removal mechanism, Subsurface damage, Surface damage, Glass-ceramic